funny thing called money

When I started teaching piano in the fall of 2011 or 12 (?), I instantly had 5 students, and charged them a mere $25 per month. By the next fall, I knew I needed to raise my price and was so nervous about doing it! How could I tell my friends that I'm making them pay more for the same service? They are my friends! What a terrible friend I was being. Still, I was putting in a lot of time and knew I needed more to make it worth it so I sheepishly raised my price a whopping $5 per month and no one even batted an eye.

About a year later, I felt like I needed to quit teaching for a while and focus more on my family. It was hard to quit; I had grown to love my students and really enjoyed teaching. I had become pretty good at it, too! It was so hard to call my students' parents. I felt like I was letting them down, like I was a bad, unreliable friend, etc. But deep down, I knew:

Following my intuition is better than regrets
My life and my kids are more important to me than the neighbor's kids and their "inconvenience"
If piano lessons are really important to my friends, they will find another teacher.

My friends/neighbors were very understanding when I told them I needed to stop teaching. And they all instantly found other piano teachers in the neighborhood. And guess what, those teachers charge WAY more than I charge. So guess who was cheating herself? I didn't value myself enough to charge what I'm worth. My time is worth a lot to me. Especially when it requires I shut the door on my own kids to spend it with someone else's. I better be making GOOD money, if I'm trading time with my family for it.

I currently have 2 students and I will be raising my price again. Substantially. And guess what? I'm not even worried about it this time. If my neighbors aren't willing to pay it (but I think they will be), then I can be freed up to do whatever else I please. If they pay it, but are kinda bugged about it, I DON'T CARE. What they think of me is not my business. What I think of myself is far more important. I love and value myself and my time here on Earth and I won't waste it doing things I don't feel good about.

It isn't selfish or greedy to make money. The more money we have, the more we can reach our potential and bless the lives of others. Money is a tool and a responsibility. And there is enough of it to go around! Don't cheat yourself by thinking that you don't deserve it and there isn't enough of it. You do and there is. I finally learned that I am a kick butt piano teacher. My talents and abilities have great value and I deserve to be abundantly compensated for it.